Comparative study of oral tranexamic acid and triple combination versus tranexamic acid through microneedling in patients of melisma

Abstract

Background: Melasma can be difficult to treat due to the refractory and recurrent nature of condition. The aim of this study is to compare and evaluate the efficacy of oral tranexamic acid and triple combination versus tranexamic acid through microneedling in patients of melisma. Methods: This is a prospective study with a sample size of 20, 10 in each treatment arm.10 patients (group-A) were given topical triple combination to apply daily at night and along with oral tranexamic acid 250 mg twice a day, while in the other arm (group-B), 10 patients were given procedural treatment of microneedling with tranexamic acid (4 mg/ml). Patients were followed up for 3 consecutive months. Clinical photograph was taken after each visit, and a modified melasma area and severity index was performed at the beginning and end of the treatment. Results: According to melasma area and severity index, improvement in group-A was 65% as compared to 33% in group-B. Conclusions: Triple combination is known as gold standard treatment in melasma, but because of its long term steroidal and tretinoin side effects we can consider microneedling with TXA as an adjuvant treatment.